Contamination found at police facility site

August 29, 2008

By Emily Arthur-Richardt earthur@aberdeennews.com Construction crews working on the new downtown police facility have unearthed a small amount of contamination, a city official said today. Workers digging a trench Thursday in the parking lot area of the facility found a small amount of what officials believe is some sort of petroleum-based contamination, said Stuart Nelson, assistant city engineer. The contamination isn't the first found in the area since construction began in May, Nelson said. In June, employees from Dahme Construction dug up a 10,000 gallon gasoline tank while excavating the area, he said. Nelson said construction employees and an environmental consultant spent about three to four days cleaning up the gasoline that had leaked from the tank. The contaminated soil was then trucked to the Brown County Landfill. Nelson said the latest contamination shouldn't set construction crews back at all. It was found as crews were digging a trench to run electricity through the area. "It's right where the parking lot was going to be, so it's not really directing affecting construction," he said. For more information on this story, check back online or read Saturday's American News.